Reliability and Validity of a School Recess Physical Activity Recall in Spanish Youth
in Pediatric Exercise ScienceClick name to view affiliation
Recess is a frequent target in school-based physical activity (PA) promotion research but there are challenges in assessing PA during this time period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a recess PA recall (RPAR) instrument designed to assess total PA and time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) during recess. One hundred twenty-five 7th and 8th-grade students (59 females), age 12–14 years, participated in the study. Activity levels were objectively monitored on Mondays using different activity monitors (Yamax Digiwalker, Biotrainer and ActiGraph). On Tuesdays, 2 RPAR self-reports were administered within 1-hr. Test-retest reliability showed ICC = 0.87 and 0.88 for total PA and time spent in MVPA, respectively. The RPAR was correlated against Yamax (r = .35), Biotrainer (r = .40 and 0.54) and ActiGraph (r = .42) to assess total PA during recess. The RPAR was also correlated against ActiGraph (r = .54) to assess time spent in MVPA during recess. Mean difference between the RPAR and ActiGraph to assess time spent in MVPA during recess was no significant (2.15 ± 3.67 min, p = .313). The RPAR showed an adequate reliability and a reasonable validity for assessing PA during the school recess in youth.
Martínez-Gómez and Marcos are with the Immunonutrition Research Group, Dept. of Metabolism and Nutrition, Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. Veiga is with the Dept. of Physical Education, Sport and Human Movement, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Calabro and Welk are with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
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